Christ Church Bible Study – Mark 2:18-28 Prepared by John Badders

Mark 2:18-22 - The Question about Fasting 18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him (Jesus), “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins.”[a] John’s ministry had attracted disciples, people who were committed to his teaching and his baptism even after he was imprisoned and executed, and evidently not living in the wilderness as a community but integrated in everyday life, in Galilee and beyond (e.g. in Ephesus; Acts 19:1-4). They were fasting, as were the Pharisees. Fasting is not merely relinquishing food for a period of time, but an act of worship which expresses one’s dependence on God. Schnabel, Eckhard J. - Mark – Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – (USA, InterVarsity Press, 2017) p.73

1. Who were the two groups concerned that Jesus and his disciples were not fasting (v.18)?

2. Why do you think they were concerned that Jesus’ disciples were not fasting?

3. What did Jesus give as a reason that he and his disciples were not fasting (v. 19).

4. Jesus’ ministry marks a new beginning which calls for celebration, not fasting. What are the three images he uses to describe this new beginning (vs. 19-22).

5. Describe how each image illustrates this new beginning?

Mark 2:19-28 - Pronouncement about the Sabbath 23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, when Abi′athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.” The expression Son of Man is a self-reference of Jesus, who claims for himself authority over the sabbath as the epitome of humankind. It is as the extraordinary, unique Son of Man that Jesus is the Lord (Kyrios) of the sabbath and this has authority to override the sabbath law and, certainly, interpretations of the sabbath law advanced by the Pharisees. The claim to be Lord of the sabbath affirms the unique authority that Jesus exercises in his ministry, affecting one of the most sacred institutions of the Jewish people, linking Jesus, again, most closely with Yahweh, who decreed the sabbath, in whose honour the Sabbath was observed and to whom the Sabbath belongs. Schnabel, Eckhard J. - Mark – Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – (USA, InterVarsity Press, 2017) p.78

1. Why do you think the Pharisees were following Jesus and watching what he and his disciples were doing?

2. What reason does Jesus give for his disciples plucking the heads of grain on the sabbath (vs.25-28)?

3. What is the significance of Jesus putting himself on par with David (v. 25)?

4. How do you see this as another way that Jesus is trying to say that something new is happening and that the old laws are being reinterpreted?

5. How would you explain Jesus’ statement that “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (v. 27)?

6. What does Jesus mean when he says that “the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath (v. 28)?”

Dive Deeper

1. In Matthew 5:17 we hear Jesus say “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Looking at the two scenes above, how do you see this statement being realized?

2. When we look at these two scenes of Jesus doing a new thing in relation to the old way of doing things, we see that many of those around him have a difficult time seeing God at work in these changes. Looking at our current world and even the church, can we see these same stresses happening because of God doing a new thing?